The Once-Sundered Mountains
When the Eternal Mountains sank into the sea during the First Incursion of Kaos, the Ædar of the great cities of Belak and Khalorak were forced to the surface at the tops of the highest peaks, now standing as islands amidst the devastation. Their capital destroyed and royal families dead, the Ædar found themselves ungoverned and trapped on this new archipelago, a place they named "the Sundered Mountains." Over several thousand years, these dwarves increased in height and strength, metalworking gave way to shipbuilding as their craft of choice, and they began to call themselves Firbolgs, from the Khazid word for "a carrier of things." They created their own culture and in doing so became known as the greatest sailors on the northern seas. Then, thousands of years after their civilization had adapted to life on the surface, the unexpected happened: the Sundered Mountains rose from the sea. The Worldquake brought back the ancient domain of the Firbolgs, which were quickly renamed again as "the Once-Sundered Mountains." The sailors lost the channels between their islands, and while they still loved the sea, began to look inward towards the no-longer sunken cities they had left behind. But the Firbolgs did not find their ancient halls as welcoming as they had hoped. The passages to Belak were lost, apparently forever, and the former capital of Khalorak... there they found a city that they came to realize would have been better to remain undiscovered. Terrible aberrations called aboleths had come to reside in the submerged city, and the most powerful of their kind -- the hideous and colossal Underlord Golorath -- had made his den in the chamber of their fallen king. The largest Firbolg settlements on the surface of the mountains, such as Flotsam, Jetsam, Sunk, and Drowned, their capital, also play home to human sailors and Ædar craftsmen that have set up shop to support their surface-born brethren. A small number of other races, such as halflings and Sidhborne, reside their as well, and there is nowhere on Ceilar with a greater concentration of Emanyn's shrines and clergy. Only Moradin, the patron of all dwarves, finds a greater following here. Aside from the Ædar and Gnomes, with whom they share the Alliance of Stone, the Firbolg have long been allies of the Searian people and, more reluctantly at times, the Kæri to the south. They freely trade with all the allied races, including the G'kota lizardfolk of the north, and some have even sailed the seas from Ceilar to distant Thyrin in the west, trading with the Naichaens and Saerasi on the eastern coasts. They maintain those alliances today despite the advice of their now-reclusive Ædar cousins. And while they share many of the enmities of their Ædar brethren, the Firbolgs also have their own axes to grind. Long ago, they fought for supremacy of the sea with the Rakasta before the catfolk's disappearance and violent return to the world, and still hold some animosity for the feline warriors that now freely walk the eastern shores of Seawn... though their relationship is slowly improving with tenuous trade relations being established. Their greatest enemy, however, is the pirate nation of Corsair. The pirates and freebooters of that island have long been a thorn in side of the sundered dwarves' fleet. And while they have seen the dangers and insanity that await them beneath the mountains and returned their attention to the seas, not all Firbolgs are satisfied with that decision. Recently, their race has split beneath two banners: the Sea King, who wishes to maintain their status quo as a sea-faring race of explorers and the preeminate navy on any continent, and the Stone Duke, who has begun funding expeditions into the depths of the Once-Sundered Mountains in opposition to the Sea King's command, hoping to reclaim the former kingdom of his people.Category:Locations Category:Gazeteer